Desi Bofors aka Dhanush Howitzers to be inducted soon

JABALPUR: In what would be a shot in the arm for a force that has not had a new 155mm artillery gun inducted since the Bofors, the Indian Army is set to soon be handed over the indigenously-developed howitzer 'Dhanush', also known as 'desi bofors'.

"Dhanush, the indigenously-developed 155mm gun with 45 calibre having advanced features, is likely to be handed over to the army in November this year," Senior General Manager of Jabalpur's Gun Carriage Factory (GCF), NK Sinha, said.
The gun, a towed howitzer with a strike range of 38 km, has been developed by Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), Kolkata, after going through the design and voluminous documents running into more than 12,000 pages which were delivered to India under the first phase of Transfer of Technology (ToT) as part of the Bofors gun deal in late 80s, an official said.
Costing about Rs 14 crore apiece, Dhanush is comparable to most current generation weapons systems which are in use by different countries, the official added.
Along with electronic gun-laying and sighting systems and other features, the indigenously-developed gun has an enhanced 11 km range as against the gun range of 27 km of the imported Bofors.
Indian Army had stationed a special team of officers at GCF to help monitor the progress, coordinate proof resources and provide guidance regarding the qualitative requirements vis-a-vis the gun system from the user's perspective, the official said.
"A team from the 506 Army Base Workshop, close to CGF, was constantly providing technical inputs which it acquired for the project for over more than two decades," he added.
The Swedish Bofors company (now owned by Britain's BAE System) could not complete the ToT for the 155mm howitzer with 39 caliber to India as the deal got embroiled in a major political row over alleged kickbacks in 80s.
Subsequently, OFB struggled for a long time to produce the howitzer indigenously despite the fact that it has manufactured and supplied several components or spare parts to keep the Bofors howitzers operational in India, especially during Kargil war.

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BSF starts using sand scooters in sandy areas

JAISALMER: For the first time in the country Border Security Force (BSF) is using sand scooters along with camels. The jawans have started patrolling the border area in Shahgarh Bulj using sand scooters. Two sand scooters of American company Polaris have been deployed here.

The jawans face new challenges everyday that threaten the security of the nation. To deal with such challenges, the Centre, three years ago, had planned to provide all terrain vehicles (ATVs) to BSF. Several companies from China, America and other countries sent their ATVs which were tried by BSF at Shahgarh Bulj. After all the trials of various sand scooters, a report was sent by BSF special committee to the Centre. The committee had recommended American company Polaris's sand scooters.
In the first phase these scooters will be used along with camels on the sand dunes. The BSF is planning to gradually reduce the use of camels, but has refused to completely remove them from the area.
Sources said that initially Chinese company's Nebula Jaguar 500cc ATV scooter trial was held between May 17 and 19 some years ago.
Sources said that BSF headquarters in New Delhi had formed a committee led by a DIG to witness the trial of these ATVs. BSF special DG Singla said that under the pilot project, two scooters will be used for guarding the border. It will be seen how successful these scooters are and how they are utilized. After assessing all the factors, a decision will be taken to buy new scooters.

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Pakistan's lies exposed by S. Zaidi about 1965 War

Historian and political economist Akbar S. Zaidi has dismissed “the victory myth” regarding the 1965 Pakistan-India war, saying that can be no a bigger lie, as Pakistan lost terribly. According to the Dawn, Zaidi’s comments came during his thought-provoking lecture titled ‘Questioning Pakistan’s history’, just two days away from observing Defence Day and marking the 50th anniversary of the 1965 war in the country.

He said that the history that is taught in Pakistan is not focused on the people of the country, but rather on the making of Pakistan.
Zaidi began the lecture by thought provoking questions such as “what is Pakistan’s history and is there a need to question Pakistan’s history. And when was Pakistan formed? Aug 14, 1947 or Aug 15, 1947”.
Zaidi read out an excerpt from a Pakistan Studies textbook in which it was claimed Pakistan came into being in 712 A D when the Arabs came to Sindh and Multan. He exclaimed “This is utter rubbish!”
He said the first interaction with Muslims and Arabs occurred in Kerala in South India for trading purposes.
Zaidi also said that the 1940 Pakistan Resolution called for the recognition of Muslims within Hindustan and not for a separate entity.
He also criticised how history in Pakistan is taught to students.
It is focused on rulers and generals and not on social history, he said.
The event was organised by the Faculty of Social Sciences, Karachi University.

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Country's latest military / communication satellite reached to its orbit

BENGALURU: GSAT-6, the country's latest communication satellite has been successfully positioned in its orbital slot, Indian Space Research Organization said today.

"GSAT-6 has been successfully positioned in its orbital slot of 83 Deg E and collocated with INSAT 4A, GSAT 12, GSAT 10 and IRNSS1C today morning, after carrying out four drift arresting maneuvers," ISRO said.
ISRO had successfully launched GSAT-6, having an indigenous cryogenic engine, on-board GSLV-D6 rocket from the spaceport at Sriharikota on August 27.
After the launch ISRO had performed successive orbit raising operation of the satellite and had also deployed the unfurlable antenna ( UFA) successfully.
GSAT-6 is the 25th geostationary communication satellite of India built by ISRO and 12th in the GSAT series.It provides communication through five spot beams in S-band and a national beam in C-band for strategic users.
One of the advanced features of the satellite is its S-Band Unfurlable Antenna of 6m diameter. This is the largest satellite antenna realized by ISRO.
This antenna is utilized for five spot beams over the Indian mainland. The beams exploit the frequency reuse scheme to increase frequency spectrum utilization efficiency, ISRO had said.
The mission life of the satellite is nine years, it had said.

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China declares India's Oil exploration in South China Sea illegal

China is consolidating its  authority over the international South China Sea by declaring it controls international waters off the coast of independent Vietnam.

“India’s intention to once again explore for oil in the disputed waters of the South China Sea is an unwise move, as it will further complicate the maritime disputes and do a disservice to maintaining the positive momentum that has been achieved in China-India ties,” declared the state-run China Daily, as translated by the Times of India.
“The Indian company should be told: Without the permission from the Chinese government, activities conducted by any foreign company in these disputed waters are illegal,” the editorial continued. The search is “illegal,” said China’s government. The Indian-owned oil company should “rethink its oil exploration plans,” China threatened.
Actually, India’s oil “exploration” is in partnership with Vietnam and has progressed far enough for the Indians to begin preparations for moving an oil platform into the area. Want China Times of Taiwan notes that the deal between an Indian company and Vietnam’s state-run PetroVietnam was signed three years before China opened international bidding on exploration of the waters under its control.
China is rapidly extending its naval force into the South China Sea, partly by building new islands with airbases. The ocean floor is believed to contain much oil and gas, and the nearby countries—China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia,and Japan—are arguing over which parts of the large sea are owned by each neighboring country.
Under President Barack Obama, the U.S. and the U.S. Navy is doing little to slow or deter the Chinese expansion. Instead, U.S. foreign policy has been focused on trying to make Israel sign a peace deal with hostile neighbors.
The Times of India recalled that India has previously argued constructive economic activity should have no impact on the South China Sea territorial dispute. But the China Daily sweeps that argument aside: “New Delhi may deem its oil exploration activities in the South China Sea purely economic in nature. But, considering the already existing tensions in the South China Sea, New Delhi’s move will only aggravate the situation.”
The Indian government is advised by China Daily’s editors to “avoid taking missteps that may sabotage the good development of their ties” with China.
The Chinese editorial also took some time to fulminate against “the meddling of outside forces, such as the United States.”
The Indians may also be irritated by Chinese adventures in the Indian Ocean, which the Chinese military recently warned India to stop thinking of as its “backyard,” lest “clashes” break out.

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OROP announcement: Key Points

NEW DELHI: Defence minister Manohar Parrikar said on Saturday that the government has decided to implement the "one rank, one pension" scheme.
Here is the highlights of Parrikar's announcement on the OROP:

1. OROP will be implemented from July 1, 2014 and the base year would be 2013.
2. The estimated cost to implement OROP would be between Rs 8,000 crore to Rs 10,000.
3. Pension of ex-servicemen will be revised every five years.
4. Re-fixed pension will be the average of minimum and maximum pension in 2013.
5. OROP arrears to be paid in 4 half-yearly installments.
6. Those drawing pensions above the average will be protected.
7. A one-member judicial committee will be constituted. It will give reports on equalisation period in 6 months.
8. Personnel who retire voluntarily will not be covered under OROP scheme.

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India is celebrating VICTORY of 1965 war with pakistan

India has begun more than three weeks of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of what it claims was victory in the 1965 war with Pakistan.
President Pranab Mukherjee laid a wreath at the martyr's memorial at Delhi's India Gate monument on Friday. Meanwhile, eight civilians have been reportedly killed as India and Pakistan exchanged fire in the Kashmir region.
Kashmir, claimed by both countries in its entirety, has been a flashpoint for more than 60 years.

Major Waheed Bukhari, a spokesman for Pakistani Rangers, told Reuters news agency that five civilians had been killed and 48 others treated for injuries after firing from the Indian side in the Sialkot area.
And across the border, India's Border Security Force said three civilians had died and 22 were wounded in firing across the border in the Jammu region.
Both said the other side had opened fire first, and their accounts could not be independently verified.
The South Asian rivals have fought two wars and a limited conflict over the region.
'Victory Carnival' ::
The 1965 conflict began when Pakistan sent up to 30,000 troops into Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
Indian soldiers invaded Pakistan in retaliation.
Over the years, both sides have claimed victory. Pakistan celebrates 6 September every year as "Defence of Pakistan Day" with a 21-gun salute and a victory parade. Indians meanwhile believe that their forces had the clear upper hand in the war.
The war was fought on the western front where for over three weeks more than 100,000 Indian soldiers fought against Pakistan's 60,000 troops.
The fighting killed more than 8,000 men, most of them Pakistanis.
On Friday morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi "praised the courage & bravery of our Armed Forces" on Twitter ::
As we mark the 50th anniversary of 1965 war, I bow to all brave soldiers who fought for our Motherland in the war.
The celebrations began on 28 August, the day Indian troops captured the strategic Haji Pir Pass in Pakistan. They will go on until 22 September - the day India and Pakistan agreed to a UN-sponsored ceasefire.
The main event - a "victory carnival" with a show of military might, song and dance - is planned for 20 September on Rajpath - the wide boulevard in the city centre where the annual Republic Day parade is held and where India recently organised a record-breaking yoga event.
The celebrations will also include seminars, photo exhibitions and a concert. Many Indians support Mr Modi's decision to hold the commemorative events - but critics say holding a carnival is in bad taste.
The 1965 war was one of four between India and Pakistan since independence from Britain in 1947.

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Pakistani captured terrorist saying he is better trained then Indian Army

Pakistani terrorist of Lashkar-e-Toiba Sajjad @ Abu Ubaidullah told the interrogators that he is better trained to fight with Indian Army. He also said that he has done arms training (Darua Aaam) in Mansera and Daura Khas (Special training) in Muzaffarabad before he infiltrated into Kashmir eight days ago through Bijhama Uri sector of the Line of Control along with 4 others who were killed.

He said that three other groups were also ready to infiltrate after we left to cross the Line of Control in Uri sector.
Twenty two year old Pakistani terrorist was captured alive by Major Mishra of 32 RR of Indian Army after army fired tear smoke and chilly grenades inside the cave in which he had taken shelter when Army encircled the group.
Sajjad was brought to Srinagar tonight in an Army chopper and landed at Sharifabad where from he was taken for interrogation.
The arrested Pakistani terrorist is extensively questioned by the sleuths of intelligence agencies and Jammu and Kashmir Police.
Meanwhile, Surveillance is being maintained at all sensitive places in Line of Control after the report of Pakistan army is desperately assisting highly trained terrorists to infiltrate into this side of LoC causing surge in ceasefire violations in the past one month.
“Terrorists are desperate to infiltrate before these passes close, hence the increase in the incidents of cross border firing,” top police offical told Mirror.
” We have successfully eliminated a large number of terrorists in the Valley. Some of the terror outfits have been rendered leaderless, so to fill in the gap they want to push in more terrorists into our side,” he said.

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Captured Paki terrorist Sajjad Ahmed begged for mercy after Army used ‘Chilly Grenades’ to flush them Out

He panicked and begged for mercy after army commandos fired ‘chilly grenades’ and teargas shells into a cave to flush out the terrorists who were holed up there since last night. Sajjad Ahmed was subsequently arrested and he identified himself as a resident of Muzzafargarh in Pakistan’s Punjab province.

                                         

                                             
The 22-year-old was one of the five terrorists who had crossed over from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and hid in the cave after army detected the infiltration and was hunting for them in Rafiabad area of Kashmir. After crossing over from PoK in a place over 100 kms north of here, the five Lashker-e-Taiba militants made several attempts to breach the tight cordon placed along the LoC, army officials said.

The realignment of security layers along the LoC was the brainchild of outgoing Corps Commander of 15 Corps Lt Gen Subrata Saha, who moved on to Army Headquarters for a new assignment. Giving details, senior officials said Army’s technical intelligence had picked up signals about a group trying to infiltrate through this area during the night of August 25-26.

A cordon was laid and one of the militant was killed yesterday in an encounter. However, there was no whereabouts of the remaining terrorists, the officials said. When the operation was being called off, a reluctant Army Major insisted that the terrorists were still on the Indian territory and a crack team of various units was formed for a search operation. During the operation, a natural cave was found on the heights in Rafiabad, they said.

When the forces approached it, they were fired upon and in the ensuing encounter, three Lashker militants were killed. Apprehending that there could be some more terrorists inside the cave, the troops then fired several rounds of tear gas shells and ‘chilly grenades’ inside to flush them out. After sometime, troops entered the cave and found Sajjad weeping bitterly — one because of panic and secondly because of the effect of chilly grenades. He was immediately arrested and sent to Joint Interrogation Centre in Srinagar for thorough questioning.

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